Sign



Feb. 12, 194; 1,483,618

- T. sEcoR SIGN Filed oct. 1e. 1922 abbouun Patented Feb. l2, 1924.

UNE'EE@ THORNTONv encon, orvnnw Yoan, N.' Y.

sion.

Application led Getober 16, 1922. Serial No. 594,701.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that l, THORNTON Sncon, a citizen oi the United States,residing at New York, in the county of New York and State g of NewYYork, have invented new and useful In'iproi-'ements in Signs, of whichthe following is a specification.

The object of my s'aid invention is Athe provision of a durable andotherwise practiie cally advantageous sign oi' luminous type,

designed more especially, though not necessarily, for use in proximityto highways with a View to directing motorists at night.

To the attainment of the foregoing, the invention consists in theimprovement as hereinafter described and definitely claimed.

lfn the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification Figurel is a front elevation of the sign with the pane of glass and theglass-holding frameremoved.

Figure 2 is a horizontal section taken through the body of the completesign.

Similar numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all oi'the views of the drawings. Y

I illustrate the body 1 of my novel sign 'as iixed to a frame 2 which inturn is mounted on a post 3. This, however, is not of the essence of myinvention inasmuch as it is within the purview of my invention tosupport the body l in any manner compatible with the purpose of thesign.

Among other elements the said sign body comprises a flanged metallicplate 4. The said plate is lapped with and riveted to the end portionsof the 4frame 2, as designated by 5, and its face or forward side ispainted black. On the said black face of the plate 4 I arrange luminouslettering constituting a direction or other sign; the said letteringwhich is designated by 6 being of luminous paint or other luminoussubstance suitable to the purpose.

It is highly important with a view to prolonging the luminous quality ofthe sign that the luminous paint or other substance of the lettering bethoroughly protected against dampness and toward this end I employ theprotective pane of glass, designated by 7, and its holding frame 8 aswell as a rubber gasket 9 and a plurality of apertures 10 for thecirculation of air -in the casing formed by the flanged plate 4; thesaid apertures l() being Aformed in the base flange of the plate 4 so asto serve the purpose stated which would obscure the View of the lumi-4nous letters. Manifestly the gasket 9 of rubber or other appropriatepacking material will assist in excluding the weather from the int-eriorof the encased sign as will the frame 8 of the angular cross-sectionwhich is detachably connected to the flange of the plate 4 by stovebolts 1l as illustrated.

in the event of the glass 7 being fractured it may be readily removedand replaced with a new glass; also, at long intervals-say about fiveyears-the glass 7 may be removed to permit of the lettering beingfreshened by the 'application of luminous paint or other material.

When protected against dampness the paint referred to will retain itsluminous quality for about five years and so that in the dark the signwill be plainly visible for a considerable distance. From this itfollows that my novel sign is 'adapted to be used to advantage adjacentto roads and road-crossings where electric illumination andadequately-lighted signs are not available; also, that my novel sign isextremely inexpensive to install and maintain, the sign requiring noattention whatever for a long period of time except when the glass 7 isbroken.

l have entere-d into a detailed description of the construction andrelative arrangement of the parts embraced in the present and preferredembodiment of my invention in order to impart a full, clear and exactunderstanding of the said embodiment. I do not desire, however, to beunderstood as confinino' myself tothe Specific construction and re ativearrangement of parts inasmuch as in the future practice of the inventionvarious Ych'anges and modifications may be made such as fall within thescope of my invention as defined in my appended claim.

aving described my invention, whatl claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s:-

A sign comprising a plate surrounded around its edge by an upstandingfiange, signal indicia applied to the surface of the plate and locatedwithin the flange, a gasket applied to the edge of the flange, atransparency applied to the gasket and disposed over the intermediateportion o the plate 'and the indicia thereon, the lower portion of theflange being provided with drain openings disposed between the gasketand the intermediate portion of the plate, a rim member applied to theouter surfaces ofthe flange and having an inwardly disposed flange lyingover the edge portions of the transparency, vand securing devicespassing tjansversely through the rim member and 10 the first mentionedflange and holding the transparency in close Contact With the gasket.

In testimony whereof, I aix my signature.

THoRNToN encon.

